FLEX Case study

Flex is a powerful, open source application framework that allows us to easily build mobile applications for iOS, Android , and BlackBerry Tablet OS devices, as well as traditional applications for browser and desktop using the same programming model, tool, and codebase.

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Flex is free open source framework. Use of strong typing, inheritance & interfaces for efficient programming Can access device capabilities like GPS, camera & local database Integrate with all major back ends including Java , Spring, Hibernate, PHP, Ruby, .NET, Adobe ColdFusion, and SAP using industry standards such as REST, SOAP, JSON, JMS, and AMF. Can be used to build enterprise applications Standard Chartered, a UK-based bank, has used pre-release versions of Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 to create an online banking application that works across desktop computers, tablets and smartphones

Cross platform support:

Cross platform compliance is achieved via Adobe AIR. AIR Adobe Integrated Runtime should be installed on the devices. (AIR replaces the flash player) Packaging differs for different platforms (Andriod / iOS) Create common code that varies only in minor ways across the various mobile platforms; developers don't have to create totally different apps for Android and iOS Though Flex apps runs consistently across various platforms (iOS, Andriod, browsers &desktop etc). It gives native experience on each platform.

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Internals:
XML based MSXML code to build the user interface ECMA-4 complaint ActionScript code to create classes and business logic Flex Builder compiles MXML + ActionScript code into SWF The flex application is created as AIR application Flex Builder has options to package the application for different platforms.

IDE:
y y Adobe Flash Builder, a tool used to create flex applications, is commercial product ($249 apx). It is based on Eclipse and provides profilers, on-device debugging and mobile simulators. Trail versions are available. The software could be a standalone IDE or could be a plugin for Eclipse. Includes rich set of libraries and components. There are cracks available for the premium version of Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 and we can use this for prototype / R&D

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Types of applications:
With Flex (Flash platform) we can build the following types of applications y y y y y y y Enterprise applications SaaS applications Consumer applications Rich media marketing campaigns Applications with video Applications for mobile devices and TV Social applications

Future of FLEX:
Currently, Flex has clear benefits for large-scale client projects typically associated with desktop application profiles In the long-term, Adobe believes HTML5 will be the best technology for enterprise application development. Now Flex & BlazeDS products are donated to Apache (open community). Adobe says they will still contribute to those.

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